Endgame
"Endgame" is the eighth episode of season 3, and the 53rd produced hour of Person of Interest. It originally aired on November 12, 2013. Synopsis The POI team’s war with HR nears a boiling point when Finch receives 38 numbers at once from the Machine. He discovers they are connected to an unknown player who is inciting an all-out war between the crime organization and the Russian mob. Meanwhile, Carter’s past is seen through flashbacks with her son’s father. Origin of the Title Endgame is a term used in chess, which refers to the final stage of a game, at which point most of the pieces are removed from the board. In the endgame, strategy changes, as the pawns (the weakest and smallest pieces on the chess board) who protected the king from checkmate, become less important as the king exercises his increasing power. Metaphorically, it is often used for the late revelation of a previously hidden major objective. Main Plot Points *Having learned the identity of the head of HR, Carter sets out alone to bring him down. *With the help of Elias, Carter is able to turn HR and the Russians against each other, resulting in the arrest of several members of HR by the FBI. *Carter turns the key to a safe deposit box containing all of the evidence she has gathered against HR over to Fusco. *With a sworn statement from Peter Yogorov implicating Alonzo Quinn as the head of HR, Carter attempts to arrest him only to be drawn into a trap. *Quinn confesses to his role in Cal Beecher's murder only to have Carter reveal that Finch recorded his confession. With help from Reese, Carter escapes with Quinn and sets out to bring him to the FBI. *Simmons gets a dashcam picture of Reese and puts a hit out on him. Flashbacks *In 2005, Carter is approached by her ex-husband Paul on her first day on the job as a police officer. Carter refuses to have anything to do with Paul who has PTSD from serving in a war until he goes to the VA for help. *That night, Carter returns home to find Paul there with their son. After sending Taylor out of the room, Carter continues to try to convince Paul to get the help he needs and forces him to leave after he loses his temper and breaks a lamp. Carter then comforts Taylor. *In 2008, the newly-promoted Detective Carter is approached by Paul once more. Paul is now much more put together and shows Carter proof that he has gone to the VA for help. Paul knows they can never go back but intends to move forward and offers his phone number and any help he can give Carter and Taylor any time they need it. Paul then leaves, leaving Carter stunned but proud. Episode Notes Literary Quotes * Late in the episode, Carter discovers the judge she contacted is in league with HR. In response, she looks at him and says, "I'll spare you the Shakespeare quote." The quote she refers to is very likely "Et tu, Brute?" (And you, Brutus?) from Julius Caesar. In the play, Brutus, Caesar's great friend, betrays Caesar to his enemies, then participates in his murder in the Roman Senate. "Et tu, Brute" has become a common response to betrayal. * Shortly thereafter, Simmons responds with "To be or not to be, bitch." That quote, from Hamlet, begins one of Shakespeare's greatest soliloquies, about the decision Hamlet must make: to live and face the trouble he knows is coming, or to commit suicide and face the unknown, which may be even worse. * Just before she calls on Finch, Carter reminds Quinn and the others that it's a "brave new world." Her quote alludes to the 1931 novel "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley. In the novel, set in 2540, Earth is governed under One World State, society is divided into a series of castes, social mores have changed dramatically, and reproduction is done artificially. Huxley intended the novel as a counter-point to the utopian novels of authors such as H.G. Wells, examining the negative possibilities of the world to come. Like the two quotes before it, the novel's title also is drawn from Shakespeare, where in The Tempest a young woman raised on an isolated island meets new people for the first time and proclaims, "How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in't." The novel also heavily quotes Shakespeare throughout the story. Production Notes * This episode is the first of a three-episode arc, entitled "The Endgame". The arc continues with and . The advertising campaign was designed to lead viewers to believe that Detective Fusco would be killed during one of the episodes. *The episode features photographs of real persons submitted in the "You may be a Person of Interest" contest held on Facebook. Did you catch the real Person of Interest in Tuesday’s episode! Bloopers and Continuity Errors *Officer Patrick Simmons was labeled as a detective on the corkboard in the closet at Carter's apartment. *The grenade launcher and the bag of weapons disappear and reappear several times in the scene where Carter hijacks the truck. *In her flashback as a rookie in training on her first patrol, Carter is shown wearing her NYPD Unit Citation ribbon which a rookie would not be eligible for. *The rifle Carter uses to shoot up Alonzo Quinn's office is a bolt action and could not fire at the rate it is shown to be used at. Music Trivia *Shaw mentioned "Everything but the kitchen sink." with Carter has an idiom meaning "everything imaginable.". Quotes *"A woman sets a car on fire and attacks a drug shipment wearing a gas mask. Who does that remind you of, Mr. Reese?" (Finch) *"Alright, you're being weird." (Shaw) *"Wait, that's my grenade launcher." (Reese) *"Your social circle is not terribly large." (Finch to Shaw) *"You know what crime your most guilty of Peter? Letting this man cook for you." (Elias to Peter Yogorov) *"If they find out Carter is behind this, only one number's coming up, hers!" (Reese) *"One question: once we save the bad Russians from the bad cops what exactly are we going to do with them?" (Shaw) *"You were right, I was wrong. I thought I could take you down alone, always did have trust issues. Tried to do it clean: photos, recordings sworn testimony. But then I realized you're just too dirty. Everywhere I turn you had friends ready to help you out and I was alone. So... I called some friends of my own." (Carter, to Quinn and HR) *"It's a brave new world, boys. Don't you read the papers? Anyone can listen in to your phone, even when it's turned off." (Carter, to Quinn and HR) *"The Man in the Suit dies tonight." (Simmons) *"To be or not to be, bitch." (Simmons) Media References es:Endgame it:Partita finale Category:Episodes Category:Season 3 Category:Season 3 Episodes Category:Episodes with Carter Flashbacks